 On July 11, 2006 the local train service, known as Mumbai's lifeline, was struck by a series of bomb blasts. Bombay Meri Jaan explores the impact of this devastating incident on the lives of the people of Mumbai. From a brilliant broadcast journalist to a patriotic corporate man; from a retiring policeman at the twilight of his life to a rookie cop at the dawn of his career; from an angry and xenophobic unemployed young man to a coffee-vendor struggling to survive and belong: Mumbai Meri Jaan follows the lives of people from all strata of Mumbai's bustling society as they tackle the aftermath of a fatal incident that brings out the best and sometimes the worst in them.
Nikhil Agarwal (R. Madhavan) works at an international software firm and is a conscious citizen. He believes in saving fossil fuels and the environment, and thus prefers to commute by the local train in the First Class compartment. On the evening of 11th July, 2006 he boards the train at the usual hour of 6:00 p.m. for his hour long journey. 24 minutes later, the First Class compartment is shattered by the first violent bomb explosion...
Suresh (Kaykay Menon), a Hindu fanatic, returning home after an unsavoury experience with a money lender, boards a train at 6:10 p.m. in the second class compartment. At 6:25 p.m. the First Class Compartment is blown apart by the second powerful blast.
Constable Tukaram Patil (Paresh Rawal), a seasoned cop due for retirement in a week, has never fired a single round in his career and uses humour to battle his personal failures. He is paired with Sunil Kadam (Vijay Maurya) on a patrol routine. Kadam has just begun his career with the police department and has a constant feeling of being an insignificant part of the system. The blasts lead to the cancellation of Kadam's honeymoon programme and puts added stress on the two. However, the corruption of the system and the mere façade of a stringent vigil are brought to the fore through several of their experiences which lead to Kadam's rising anger and frustration.
Thomas (Irrfan), a roadside coffee vendor, who roams the streets of Mumbai astride his bicycle at night, is happy with the meager $30 he struggles to earn every week but is hurt by the exclusionary bourgeois attitude of the city. Although the bomb blasts leave him personally unaffected, he realizes that the incident has brought distress to others who are higher up in the class structure. Armed with this knowledge his simple mind finds a way to strike back at the society which refuses to let him belong.
Rupali Joshi (Soha Ali Khan), a reporter working for one of the leading news channels in Mumbai is a strong proponent of freedom of expression and the importance of the fourth estate. The 7/11 explosions bring home a shocking subjective quandary and test her passion for objectivity.
The film moves away from all the generalized political and academic debates surrounding terrorism as a concept and follows a more nuclear approach by depicting the violence of individual trauma generated in the lives of five common individuals. As the proverbial stone thrown upon an anthill, the film depicts the aftermath of the incident, traversing individual journeys of five worker ants, amongst the millions that belong to the colony, towards normalcy.
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